


Untitled

by greasycarisi



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Barba in sweatpants, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff without Plot, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Sonny in basketball shorts, Why Did I Write This?, what beats that???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 23:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3707001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greasycarisi/pseuds/greasycarisi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a month of endless squabbling, numerous trips to the home improvement store together, and a 2½-inch binder full of paint sample cards of nearly similar colors, Sonny Carisi and Rafael Barba finally made a compromise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Untitled

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Barisi work in which they paint their bedroom and touch each other a lot because they love each other. Feedback is greatly appreciated c:

"What if..." Sonny began his suggestion apprehensively, scratching the back of his head as he walked down the bustling streets of New York with his lover's shoulder brushing just beneath his own. Sonny shook his head, as if to clear it of his current thought, and tried thinking of another way to approach the situation. He was normally so verbose and inquisitive when he spoke, but the matter at hand made him hesitant to ask.The moment he trailed off lead to an uneasy minute of silence between the two. 

Finally, ADA Rafael Barba broke the excruciating silence: 

"You were saying...?" Barba prompted, side-eying the taller man, his head lifting only slightly to catch a glimpse of the dark gray ivy cap that sat on his head. Brand new from what the lawyer could tell, a nice addition to the Detective’s more recent attire. The older man smiled slightly to himself before looking straight ahead again.

"I was, uh, looking through your wardrobe one night, right? Well, I came across one of your waistcoats, you know the one: nice red wine color on the back, kinda chocolate brown on the front. I never saw you wear it. I probably wasn't in or maybe you never came to the station that day, I don't know. You probably looked damn good that da—"

They stopped in front of the entrance to a sandwich shop, their destination. The smaller man sighed, pulling the other into a quick kiss, stroking his arm.

"I'm going to be honest with you, I can't tell if you're changing the subject of whatever it was you were 'what if'-ing about or if this is a preamble to the main point you're trying to make. As flattered as I am, and as much as I love you enough to let you ramble on and on and on, I'm going to need you to get the the point, please, or we're going to be here all day. The rest of the squad is at the station waiting for their lunch." The smile Rafael gave the detective was genuine, loving, and after three months of being ‘official,’ Sonny still hadn’t adapted to it. As much as he enjoyed it and as much as he loved Barba back, he didn’t think he would ever become accustomed to the affection.

"Right. Well, have you ever seen a room that is painted with the same color on every wall except for one, what's that called?" His inquisitiveness seemed to make a comeback. Okay. This was a good sign.

They were inside the shop now, almost immediately meeting a line of people waiting to order. The men almost immediately faced one another. Waiting for an answer to his question, Carisi stood, his lean body at a slant and his hand on his hip. Barba stood on his left leg, his arms crossed as he looked the detective up and down.  
"An accent wall...?" Barba pitched with a brow quirked sky-high, he knew very well where Carisi was going with this.

"That's it! Well, I was thinking about how we've been contemplating what color to paint your— um, our— bedroom for a long time now. I know your top choice was a wine-ish hue, and mine was a chocolate brown, kinda like your waistcoat... So, what if we, you know, paint it both colors...? Hey now, don't give me that look, I'm trying to be fucking agreeable here, Rafael...”

Barba’s smug smile turned into a more amiable one, a slow nod urging Sonny to go on, to further explain himself.

“Okay, okay, so I was thinking we could paint three walls wine and the wall behind the bed the chocolate, that'd be nice, yeah?"

Rafael chuckled at Sonny, endeared by his typical inclination to please him and, without giving an immediate answer, he turned toward the counter to order the sandwiches and beverages. Sonny tried at least acting casually as he waited quite impatiently for an answer, running a hand through his hair and then purposely brushing the same hand down Barba's suited back. The cashier told them it would be a 10 minute wait for the six sandwiches and drinks. Barba gave her his name and a tight-lipped smile, slipped his hands in his coat pockets and sauntered to the nearest booth, Carisi following after. They sat across from one another, Sonny clasping his hands and giving his lover a cherubic and toothy smile. Rafael shook his head, chuckling again. "We'll do the accent wall, but we are switching it up a bit. Three of your chocolate walls, my red wine wall behind the bed. It would look better that way, trust me. Oh, and we'll be using a satin finish for both paints."

"Deal. Should we start this weekend, then?" The excitement in Sonny's eyes made Barba's expression as soft and light as air. He fixed his elbows on the table and cupped his cheek, looking upon his blue-eyed angel in adoration. Rafael could have sworn the man had a literal halo over his head whenever he smiled that way; he had never been so smitten with a person the way he was smitten with Sonny when he smiled.

"We can buy the paint Friday night and start painting on Saturday. We'll have to take down and move the bed, as well as move dresser, and nightstand out for the weekend..." Sonny nodded. After a month of endless squabbling, numerous trips to the home improvement store together, and a 2½-inch binder full of paint sample cards of nearly similar colors, Sonny Carisi and Rafael Barba finally made a compromise.  
The cashier called out Rafael's name causing the his eyes to dart away from Sonny's. They got up, retrieved the food and beverages, and made their way back to the station.  


***

Saturday had come and by the time they had disassembled the bed stand, brought all of the furniture out into the hallway, and laid down three plastic tarps across the area of the carpet, it was already noon.

"I'm hungry, are you hungry?" Rafael asked, looking Sonny and simultaneously opening the first can of paint. Sonny stood in the doorway in a T-shirt and basketball shorts, tearing the plastic away from the paintbrush bristles. He looked toward his lover and smiled and nodded. 

"Yeah, I guess I am...What are you in the mood for today, huh?" Sonny's long and blindingly pale legs barely seemed to take half a stride before he was in front of Barba. He sank to his knees, caressed Barba's cheek, and leaned in for a kiss that was more like nibbling and sucking on his bottom lip.

Rafael pulled away and laughed, "I'm not sure how you interpreted my question, but I meant that I was hungry for food, like, Chinese or burgers." Although he tried feigning seriousness, after having rudely interrupting Sonny's first kiss, he couldn't resist pulling Sonny back into another one, longer and filled with more lust and less hunger this time around. Sonny pulled the man in closer and kissed him harder, Barba’s tongue darting into his mouth, tasting remnants of the coffee he had not too long ago (okay, maybe not that much less hunger). It took both men all of the restraint in the world not to take their kiss any further than that and when they pulled away with a smack they gave a swollen-lipped smile to one another and settled for an exchange of appreciative gazes.

"I'm gonna order some Chinese. Lo mein, am I right...?--” Barba nodded in response, “Right. I'll be right back."

Carisi exited the room in search for his cell phone and Barba turned his attention back to the paint. He stirred the smooth cocoa colored paint and poured some of it into a white paint tray.  
Before picking up a brush, Rafael got his phone and played a Latin Jazz station on an internet radio app, turning up the volume as high as it would go. He picked up the paintbrush Carisi had been unwrapping and dipped it in the paint, swiping the brush across the edge to get rid of the excess paint. Barba began with the corners and above the trim between the floors and walls to make an outline before they used the paint rollers for all-over coverage. Five minutes before Carisi was back in the room. Rafael was still at the back corner, bent over, swaying to the rhythm of the music, and dipping the brush in the paint once again when Carisi walked back into the room. He admired the view he had of the man's ass, drawing toward it as if it had some kind of magnetic pull, his hand aching to slap it or touch it in some way. When he was close enough, he settled for a gentle fondling.  
"Counselor, you have the finest ass in New York state." Sonny’s lips twisted into a slimy grin. 

"Do I?"

"You ask that as if you have no idea. Like you’ve never caught me staring at work. I know you have. You'd catch me and scold me, 'back to work, detective,' you’d say in that real low voice of yours. But I know it’s all for show. You flaunt that ass in front of me just to turn me on, don't you?" 

Rafael stood up straight and Sonny craned his neck over his shoulder, his arms snaking around Rafael's waist. Sonny's nose brushed against the other his cheek and he hummed investigatively. 

"Well, I guess there must be some reason they call you 'detective,'" Barba chuckled, turned his head and pecked his lover's cheek, "enough interrogating, more painting."

"Sure thing, Counselor." Sonny stroked the older man's stomach before he let go to find himself a paint brush. 

***

Many distractions met the men as they finished painting the room in its entirety: an hour lunch break when their Chinese food arrived, tiny pecks on cheeks that turned into aggressively perpetual kisses on lips, numerous coffee breaks, and a salsa dance lesson from the ADA. Despite their plethora of distractions, they had finished the room and by the time they were done, it was going on 1AM.

"Well, we did it. I have no idea how we managed it, but we did." Rafael stated, taking the results in with a turn of his foot. He faced the red wine colored wall and smiled. It looked a lot better than he expected. Sonny came up to Rafael's side and tugged him into an embrace. "I like it. You were right about the one red wall, it looks real nice. Has a kinda...sensual feel to it, y'know?" Sonny ventured to nuzzle into Rafael's neck, poking his tongue at his collarbone.

"Mmm, definitely...” He paused for a kiss, “...but I just realized something. Our bedding doesn't match at all anymore. We'll need to find a new set."

"It's a bit late to shop right now... And speaking of bed, where are we going to sleep tonight?"

"Right, right... We'll shop tomorrow, then. And we can sleep in the living room for tonight, we'll move the coffee table and use the sheets and duvet for a makeshift bed. God, laying down sounds so...heavenly right now." Barba stretched out his back until he heard it crack, Sonny rubbing it after.

Immediately after the makeshift bed was ready, Rafael crawled into it, ready for a good night's rest. He pulled the blanket over his body, leaving space for Sonny, who was currently turning the remaining lights off. It wasn't long Barba felt the warmth of the other man's body against his back.

"Raf..." Sonny whispered as he wrapped the smaller man in his arms.

"Yes, Sonny?" Rafael was just beginning to drift into slumber but he couldn't ignore the sleepy edge to Sonny's voice, he wanted to hear more of it.

"Today...I liked today. Today was nice."

Rafael turned toward Sonny and lifted a hand to his cheek and caressing it."It was. I'm happy."

"I can't wait to get a bed back in there. It's gonna feel so nice in there. The atmosphere of it and all..."

"Mhmm."

Rafael snuggled into Sonny and closed his eyes again. "Good night," Sonny kissed the top of his head, "god, I friggin' love you..."

Rafael began to snore, a sufficient enough response to Sonny for the time being. He closed his eyes, focusing on the smell of Rafael's skin until he succumbed to slumber's snare.


End file.
